


Ripples

by orphan_account



Category: EastEnders
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-02-22
Updated: 2012-02-22
Packaged: 2017-10-31 14:31:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/345099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just Business</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ripples

“So what do you think to that then?” Christian nodded to where Amira stood with Anthony Moon. “Look a bit cosy, don't they?”

Syed looked at them, shrugged. “She's using him.”

“Well yeah,” he replied in the manner of one who wasn't _quite_ telling you that you were stating the obvious. “But he seems to be enjoying it.”

“Because he's-” He broke off, irritated. “Look, it's been ages since we saw each other. Are we really going to stand here all day discussing Amira and Anthony Moon?”

Christian's eyebrow quirked, but all he did was smile, put an arm around Syed's waist and pull him close. “Is that a rhetorical question?”

**

Now that he and Christian were back together it was hard to know what to do with Amira – where she fit into their lives. He'd honestly thought that she was going to carry on being a bitch to Christian, stop _him_ from seeing their daughter, but something seemed to have changed with her. She actually seemed to see herself as part of the family, actually seemed to want to be with them. She hadn't become a different person, but she did seem to see _them_ differently – his mum and dad. He supposed it might have had quite a lot to do with the fact that she had no-one left to turn to, but he thought it stemmed from a pretty genuine affection. Becoming a mother had softened some of her harder edges and while she was still a snob, still expected the world on a silver platter at her feet, she wasn't like that around his family anymore.

 

Well, they'd given her more support and understanding then she'd ever got from her own father, so it was understandable, really. As for _their_ relationship, well that was the most astonishing thing of all – they were genuinely friends now, genuinely affectionate toward each other in the way they'd only been in the days prior to their marriage. And it was _different_ this time; this time she wasn't being deceived, knew who and what he was; knew how he felt about her. And she was fine with it. She didn't seem to be in love with him the way she'd convinced herself she was the previous year and now that she had _his_ support and the support of the family wasn't as desperate to make her position secure. She still resented the hell out of Christian, but then Amira didn't like losing and history had proven that whenever she took Christian on she'd always, always lose. Syed was his, had always been, would _always_ be his. Amira was slowly, gradually coming to terms with that and in any case knew better than to make her continuing jealousy and resentment clear to Syed. 

Gold star for effort...

 

But for all he gave her kudos for trying; for trying not to be the snobbish user he knew she _could_ be, Syed knew that when it came to people who _weren't_ family all bets were pretty much off.

He didn't particularly like the Moons, but Anthony was harmless enough, and he knew Christian had a soft for them – Anthony in particular – so didn't want to see him ripped apart by his predatory ex. Christian didn't believe in interfering in other people's stuff so no point in asking _him_ to have a word with Anthony. It's just that he wasn't the most cleverly diplomatic when it came to this stuff, and Anthony wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, which meant he'd have to be pretty blunt without being _too_ obvious...

Brilliant: just _everything_ he wasn't good at doing...

**

Anthony had a funny attitude toward him – he'd known Syed was with Christian _prior_ to Amira's return, so hadn't ever taken Amira seriously when she made a point of telling him that Syed was her husband. He certainly hadn't taken Syed seriously in terms of being any sort of rival. And Syed, though he knew it was nuts, had slightly resented this. No, he didn't want her – not romantically, not in any proprietary way at all – yet he didn't like being dismissed. Just because he wasn't loud the way Christian was didn't mean he was a pushover; just because he was gay didn't make him a sissy; just because he was in a gay relationship didn't make him the _woman_ in the relationship! He got the impression that this is exactly how Anthony Moon saw him – all those things – and had had to school himself to not allow this impression to unduly influence his attitude during their meeting.

It didn't start well. Anthony, not expecting it to be Syed turning up on his doorstep, made his displeasure for a moment all too clear. Rather than coming out with the usual 'smart' patter – the way you would with a potential customer who'd visited your 'emporium' he stared him down, demanding: “What do you want?”

For a moment Syed contemplated simply turning around and leaving the idiot to Amira's tender mercies, but he’d made the mistake of telling Christian, hadn't he who'd been so impressed that to go back to him 'empty-handed'...well he wasn't going to and that was that. “Sorry, you didn’t seem to be that busy.”

His eyes narrowed. “Is that a crack? I'll have you know that I just sold a painting for £2,000! We may not get a drove of people coming in, but when we do they buy.” He became smug. “I _persuade_ them to buy.”

Syed regarded him for a moment, thinking that Amira would have a field day with this one, and know what, maybe she deserved to. “£2,000? Wow, that's impressive. I'd be lucky to sell a t-shirt for 20 quid!”

This did the trick – grinning, Anthony perched on the edge of a solid-looking table and folded his arms. “Well we source unique products. Your products are good, but they're a bit more generic – you can't charge what you like.”

“Well, that's true, but a bit later in the year I expect us to be coining it in.”

Anthony agreed. “You'll be run off your feet, mate – IF you get it right.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, all businesses are just stock and people aren't they? It's about thinking outside the box, taking advantage of opportunities – seeing them in the _first_ place – and having the infrastructure in place so that when it takes off you can keep up with demand. Looking around at your operation I'm thinking that you probably won't be able to do that come July.”

Syed looked interested. “You think we need more staff? We're hardly breaking even at the moment – we certainly can't afford to employ anyone else in the business.”

“Well you need to come up with something then, don't you? Reach an agreement with someone. It's what you have to do in business – can't be shy in business-”

“I'm not shy.”

“But I don't see you on the stall, shouting out your wares. You can't expect Amira to do that – she's too classy for that. How about your mate – Christian? He'd have all your stuff sold in a day – and then some.”

Syed was horrified. “Christian?”

“See? There you go, not thinking outside the box. Anyone else would have had him selling your stuff ages ago! He'd be great.”

“But, but- he's got his own business to run.”

“A couple of hours on a market stall? You telling me he couldn’t manage that, wouldn’t do that for _you_?”

Syed was still staring at him, mind racing. Amira would go spare, and as his partner she did have a say. “He and Amira don't get on.”

Anthony laughed. “I know, but you handle him, and I’ll handle her. Between us we'll have them running that business like clockwork and ending up as best buds.”

Syed stared at him wondering just how dumb the guy really was and just how dumb _he_ was for even considering it...

And how the hell had _he_ ended up on the receiving end of a lecture...


End file.
